1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to locks. More particularly, to a combination padlock with a secondary opening mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous padlock constructions have been developed and are widely employed by individuals to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to any particular item or area which has been closed and locked. Although many locks are constructed to be opened by a key, numerous combination lock constructions have been developed which are opened by knowledge of a particular combination.
The combination padlock as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,709, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a simple and effective combination padlock in terms of construction and operation. However, it may be desirable to have a secondary mechanism to open the combination padlock. In particular, for padlocks that may be used in locker rooms, such as those found in workout centers, gymnasiums and the like, the staff of such institutions may need a combination padlock that is resettable for the members and/or visitors of such institutions. After a member or visitor returns the padlock, the padlock combination (code used to open the padlock) cannot be independently determined by the staff, causing the staff to throw the padlock away because it cannot be opened. While some of the existing combination padlocks can be opened by a secondary locking mechanism, such as a locking mechanism that can be opened through the use of a key, the padlocks can only be opened by using the key, and such mechanism cannot help the user, e.g. staff, in resetting the combination code, which was set by the previous user, e.g. member or visitor. As a result, the padlock may only be opened through use of the key, and the combination aspect of the padlock is rendered useless since the combination is no longer known.
In today's market, people would like to have a secondary mechanism to open a combination padlock. Especially for lockers in gymnasiums, clubs, workout centers, and the like, it is desirable that the staff could provide a combination padlock to their club-member, where the code for unlocking the padlock is resettable yet, after the member returned the padlocks, the code could be reset. This is especially important when the user sets the code (combination), but does not tell the staff. Many times, padlocks have to be discarded for this reasons since the padlock cannot be re-coded (even if it can be unlocked with a master key). Some of the existing combination padlock can be opened by a secondary locking mechanism such as a key, however, they can just open the padlock by using the key but such mechanism cannot help the user (staff) to reset the combination code, which was previously set by a user (club-member). In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides an improved padlock whose code can be reset.
The present invention is directed to a padlock which solves the problem of resettable padlocks and the need for being able to re-assign a combination code after a combination has been previously used.